Back Inflate Vs. Jacket Style!!

[memon1]

HEY ALL!!
I just got my AOW this weekend, and after not diving for about 2 years it was different!! I was using a back inflate DUI I picked up for cheap, and in terms of equipment it was pretty much the most miserable experience of my life. After this terrible experience ( I couldn't get under the water, the thing just kept me on top of the water the WHOLE TIME, and when I was underwater it was either SLAMMING into the bottom or flailing on the surface) I want to get a nice jacket style BC. I was wondering if anyone has an opinion about this?? Does it take THAT MUCH GETTING USED TO??? Any opinions would be MUCH appreciated!!! Thanks

 

[Jim Ernst]

i used a sherwood avid (jacket bc) for almost the first two years of diving, i just recently bought the dive-rite bp/w i love it even better, but yes it took me a little getting used to it, then to screw me up even worse i two weeks latter bought a drysuit, ya i am a real mess right now i think i am worse then my students,lol, but it will take a few dives to get used to it so you may want to give it all a chance!!!

 

[Stu S.]

Your experience is probably not related to the back inflate configuration. My daughter started out with an Aqua Lung back inflate BC, did really well, and continues to. Don't give up on your new BC quite yet. Some BC's have rapid fill and dump mechanisms. Yours may be one of those. Consider having an instructor review your equipment; to make sure it is right for you. Hopefully, it is a matter of getting more familiar with what you have. Many divers prefer the type of BC you just got.

If decide to go to, a jacket, the Sherwood Avid is easy to use and well constructed. I like mine. Good luck, and welcome to diving.

 

[Walter]

There's essentially no difference between vest or back inflate They work in exactly the same manner. The type of BC was not what was giving you a problem.

 

[djanni]

I'm pretty sure the style of the BC was not the reason you couldn't get under.

For the most part all BC's are either back inflate or jacket. All bp/w's are back inflate but not all bc's. Some are jacket, some are back inflate and some are sb/w's (softback & wing).

I couldn't say why you had problems getting under but as a generalization you might have been underweighted or had air in the bladder or both.

Based on my limited experience I don't think there's an advantage to either style with regard to getting under.

 

[ProfessorAronnax]

HEY ALL!!
I just got my AOW this weekend, and after not diving for about 2 years it was different!! I was using a back inflate DUI I picked up for cheap, and in terms of equipment it was pretty much the most miserable experience of my life. After this terrible experience ( I couldn't get under the water, the thing just kept me on top of the water the WHOLE TIME, and when I was underwater it was either SLAMMING into the bottom or flailing on the surface) I want to get a nice jacket style BC. I was wondering if anyone has an opinion about this?? Does it take THAT MUCH GETTING USED TO??? Any opinions would be MUCH appreciated!!! Thanks

Welcome to SB memon1! Kind of a loaded question around here! I'm sure you'll receive tons of feedback so I'll keep it short. There are many amazing standard jacket style, back inflate jacket, and Backplate/Wing(BP/W) systems on the market any of which would have blown away my first BC twenty five years ago. Basically, I think the standard jacket BC is probably the simplest to use(least learning curve), followed by the back inflate jacket then BP/W. With that said I'm sure you could adjust your weight and distribute it differently to achieve solid results with your current rig.

Good Luck!

Rap

 

[tedwhiteva]

Practise, practise, practise - and don't wait two years again even if you have to dive in a quarry.

 

[diveman7683]

HEY ALL!!
I just got my AOW this weekend, and after not diving for about 2 years it was different!! I was using a back inflate DUI I picked up for cheap, and in terms of equipment it was pretty much the most miserable experience of my life. After this terrible experience ( I couldn't get under the water, the thing just kept me on top of the water the WHOLE TIME, and when I was underwater it was either SLAMMING into the bottom or flailing on the surface) I want to get a nice jacket style BC. I was wondering if anyone has an opinion about this?? Does it take THAT MUCH GETTING USED TO??? Any opinions would be MUCH appreciated!!! Thanks

I think part of the problem is that you haven't been diving in a couple of years and you are trying a new piece of gear. Also sounds like you were under-weighted or had air trapped in the BC.

 

[Jim Ernst]

There's essentially no difference between vest or back inflate They work in exactly the same manner. The type of BC was not what was giving you a problem.

walter, is right,sorry i got side tracked some how and didnt even touch on your problem of desending, i only refered to the fact that the differant types of equipment have differant placement and adjustments to get used to, as i also agree with walter and a few otheres have stated that the differant bc isnt your problem with desending, and it does sound like you were under wieghted, sorry for my side track earlier

 

[Tassie_Rohan]

HEY ALL!!
I just got my AOW this weekend, and after not diving for about 2 years it was different!! I was using a back inflate DUI I picked up for cheap, and in terms of equipment it was pretty much the most miserable experience of my life. After this terrible experience ( I couldn't get under the water, the thing just kept me on top of the water the WHOLE TIME, and when I was underwater it was either SLAMMING into the bottom or flailing on the surface) I want to get a nice jacket style BC. I was wondering if anyone has an opinion about this?? Does it take THAT MUCH GETTING USED TO??? Any opinions would be MUCH appreciated!!! Thanks

BC's, be they jacket, back-inflate, wing or a pigs bladder are all just air bags with a harness. Nothing more. They all work the same way. If you do not have your weighting correct then none of them will make you dive better.

Slamming into the bottom - sounds like you are not adding enough air as you decend and/or are overweighted.

Shooting to surface - sounds like you were not venting air fast enough on ascent and were overweighted (which means having too much air in the BC when shallow-which becomes hard to control due to the greater volume changes at shallow depths). At the end of the dive at 5 metres you should have no air in your BC.

Can not descend - sounds like some air in the bc was not being correctly vented /you were breathing too hard on the surface/had air trapped in your suit/were underweighted. Rememeber to relax and breath out to start your descent. To vent a BC fully it helps if you are vertical in the water and not lying prone: this is especially so for back inflate if you are only use to jackets.

The type of BC will not matter in the above cases.

Getting you weight right is the biggest challange for a new diver and will make everything else easy once mastered. We all go through the same experience when learning. I'd suggest you do a search here on weighting/bouyancy - theres many helpfull threads, and maybe consider taking a peak preformance bouyancy course.

BTW how much weight did you have and what sort of suit?

Cheers,
Rohan.